shop use consideration of CT Boom Arm for Dust Extractors

[Klemm]

has anyone on this forum considered and decided to buy / or not buy the M0114 CT Boom Arm for use in a shop ?
The thinking behind the experience and the outcome / advice would really be appreciated.

One review I saw had the Boom Arm mounted separately from the CT which is an interesting approach.
Hans

 

[McNally Family]

I was just looking at one last night when I visited our local Woodcraft store.  The only downside I could see was the potential loss of mobility with the CT.  It looks like the bracing at the bottom, while adding additional stability, would also prevent rolling the CT around for regular shop floor cleaning.  I could be wrong, but that was my initial impression.  I would like to learn I am wrong, as that might encourage me to purchase one.

 

[copcarcollector]

I am pretty sure that some users tote this around their shop, there are also several home made, less expensive versions on the FOG

 

[Steve-Rice]

I have a central bench location I use in my shop for just about everything. Instead of a boom arm, I simply hang a bungie cord from the ceiling and use that to support the hose. It works great and cost nothing. 

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I have a boom arm mounted separately from the ct and it works well for me.

First of all, I often reconfigure my shop, depending on the current project.  For large pieces with lots of fairly simple parts, I need lots of open space and the ability to move around in the chaos.  The mft and the boom get stored away.

When I am doing intense work on small pieces, like a complicated inlay, the boom arm, ct, and the mft are clustered together.  I can just lightly tap the boom and the hose and wires slide away out of the work area.  Thats huge.

I mounted the boom arm separately because sometimes, mid-project, I need to move the ct - perhaps outdoors, and the boom does restrict mobility.  The mounting apparatus is a simple stand clamped to a heavy cinder block for ballast.

 

[demographic]

I have a central bench location I use in my shop for just about everything. Instead of a boom arm, I simply hang a bungie cord from the ceiling and use that to support the hose. It works great and cost nothing.

Nice one, I might be stealing that idea for use in rooms (pre plasterboard stage) on site.

 

[GarryMartin]

I have the boom arm on a CTL 26 and find it useful. You could certainly DIY something similar, but the Festool is a solid product.

I don't use the "outriggers" as although as you note they aid in overall stability, they restrict movement. Most of the photos you see don't seem to have them attached either. I've not had the CTL fall over yet...  [scared]

I have a 36mm hose on it and then use a 27mm "whip hose" if needed for smaller tools.

It does mostly stay near my MFT, so I have to say, I have been considering wall mounting it but predominantly so that I can put it exactly where I want it without the bulk of the CTL 26 having to follow it as opposed to I want to wheel the CTL 26 around without it.

 

[Klemm]

more questions:
is the Boom Arm reach sufficient to be able to rip a full sheet of plywood ?
when referring to a 27mm Whip hose at the end of the boom arm's 30mm hose are you talking about the standard anti-static 27 mm hose length?
when adding a whip hose how do avoid having just another hose tangle to drag across the edge of your workbench and or work piece or did you cut the Whip to a shorter length?

I find the Festool Edge Guard insufficient in keeping the hose/cable moving. Somehow the hose seems to end up coming from the side at an angle before I have pulled the whole length. Then it derails from the edge guide. That's what has me looking at a boom arm solution.

thank you all for jumping in with feedback!

Would love to see some pictures of the boom arm placed separately from the CT.

 

[GarryMartin]

You can position the hose such that it extends as far as you really want it to and can choose whatever hose size you want to be honest. I've ripped 2440x1220mm (8ft x 4ft) MDF sheets without issue with the setup in the photo.

Few photos attached to help with visualising, including the whip hose I mentioned.

View attachment 1
View attachment 2
View attachment 3

 

[Klemm]

what got me thinking in the first place was a hand-on look at the industrial Boom Arm Festool sells in Europe for around $ 2,500 plus VAT tax.
What issues do you all see with a scaled down version with leg lengths around 2 x 4 ft instead of the 2.5 meters and wall mounted?
Would something like that for around $ 1,000.00 be worthwhile?
Availability of structure to attach the wall mount has me scratching my head.

see attached image

 

[peter halle]

Just as added information, the outriggers do provide additional support, but unless they have changed recently even Festool USA in their training rooms don't use the outriggers.

Peter

 

[peter halle]

what got me thinking in the first place was a hand-on look at the industrial Boom Arm Festool sells in Europe for around $ 2,500 plus VAT tax.
What issues do you all see with a scaled down version with leg lengths around 2 x 4 ft instead of the 2.5 meters and wall mounted?
Would something like that for around $ 1,000.00 be worthwhile?
Availability of structure to attach the wall mount has me scratching my head.

see attached image

There are very few of the industrial arms here in the US I suspect.  [member=191]Rick Christopherson[/member] has one installed in his shop and I once read much about his mounting situation and the engineering involved.  Maybe he will pop in and give his thoughts on this.

Peter

 

[GarryMartin]

There are a bunch of resources on the FOG - try a search for "boom arm".

Here are some that you'll particularly like, although most are "pre-picturegate" and so the detailed photos are likely lost (there was unfortunately a catastrophic loss of photos on the forum a year or so ago).

The Rick Christopherson build out...http://festoolownersgroup.com/fun-games-diversions/something-wicked-this-way-comes/

As a lot of the photos will have gone, hopefully this link might help too...http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/woodworkers-cafe/4402-something-wicked-way-comes.html

Also this; don't know whether [member=20326]SittingElf[/member] has his installed yet...http://festoolownersgroup.com/festo...r-rick-christopherson-regarding-the-asa-5000/

And this is a personal favourite although [member=1466]Michael_Swe[/member] hasn't been around for quite a while...http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/boom-arm-deluxe/

I only saved one photo unfortunately  [crying]

View attachment 1

This shows one attached to the wall which you specifically asked about...http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/boom-arm/

This is a home-made version of the ASA boom; use Google Chrome to auto-translate...http://www.woodworking.de/blog/2013/02/werkstatt-von-michael-b/

Hope these help with your thoughts.

 

[waho6o9]

I like the one mentioned above:
[attachimg=1]

 

[Rick Christopherson]

There are very few of the industrial arms here in the US I suspect.  [member=191]Rick Christopherson[/member] has one installed in his shop...

When there's only a few in the country, the guesses get short pretty fast.  [big grin] Yeah, it was mine that he saw. But I did have him pass through a metal (stray tool) detector before he left my shop.  [eek]

 

[grbmds]

I have had the boom arm for more than a year and use it with my CT all the time. While it took a little while to get used to it, once I did, it has been a great addition to my shop. It helps manage the hose for me. One thing to know though is that it requires a 7 foot ceiling clearance or you will have to cut the support at the bottom to make it fit your ceiling. This shouldn't be a deterrent, but it does create a little stress while doing it, making sure you don't make a mistake on something that expensive. I also don't use the outriggers and have not yet had a problem with the vac tipping. However, if the arm swings too far to the side I would guess that is a possibility. The outriggers just get in the way though.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

My boom arm is the most heavily used tool in the whole shop. This picture is from a couple years ago making some cabinets with my neighbor. We just finished making a trestle table for his son/daughter-in-law, and he's actually downstairs cleaning my shop at this very moment. [big grin]

To the left you can see the sheet of Styrofoam on my main workbench. We do most of our sheet cutting here, and it's nice to be able to pull the boom arm over to run the saw.

My VacSys is permanently mounted to the small MFT (not shown here yet), and I ran an extra vacuum line through the boom arm so I could keep the VacSys pump sitting on the CT26 without having the vacuum hose running across the floor. So to use Vacsys I just need to pull the boom arm over to that side of the shop and connect the quick-connect vacuum fitting. About 10-seconds and running.

I also have compressed air running through the boom arm. So I don't need air hoses all over the floor to trip over. I keep a short section of air hose on the boom arm (red coil).

I also don't need any extension cords in the shop any more. There is a quad electrical outlet hanging from the end of the arm that has 2 CT-triggered outlets and 2 direct power outlets. So I just pull the boom arm to where ever I need power.

I added a tool balancer (spring retracter) to the vac hose to keep it elevated, but is still long enough to set a tool down on the floor.

My shop is bigger than most, but I would think that a 1/2-scale version of this would be an astounding addition to any shop.

[attachimg=1]

 

[Klemm]

There are a bunch of resources on the FOG - try a search for "boom arm".

Here are some that you'll particularly like, although most are "pre-picturegate" and so the detailed photos are likely lost (there was unfortunately a catastrophic loss of photos on the forum a year or so ago).

The Rick Christopherson build out...http://festoolownersgroup.com/fun-games-diversions/something-wicked-this-way-comes/

As a lot of the photos will have gone, hopefully this link might help too...http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/woodworkers-cafe/4402-something-wicked-way-comes.html

Also this; don't know whether [member=20326]SittingElf[/member] has his installed yet...http://festoolownersgroup.com/festo...r-rick-christopherson-regarding-the-asa-5000/

And this is a personal favourite although [member=1466]Michael_Swe[/member] hasn't been around for quite a while...http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/boom-arm-deluxe/

I only saved one photo unfortunately  [crying]

View attachment 1

This shows one attached to the wall which you specifically asked about...http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/boom-arm/

This is a home-made version of the ASA boom; use Google Chrome to auto-translate...http://www.woodworking.de/blog/2013/02/werkstatt-von-michael-b/

Hope these help with your thoughts.

After reading Garry's post nr 12 I clicked through all the links and threads connected with them. on top of the current thread there is just a ton of information with lots of specific details. Makes me wonder why there is little evidence in more recent workshop posts about the whole issue of getting hoses and cables off the floor and positioned for convenient use with power tools.

Unfortunately the picture of the omemade German boom arm does not show the attachment to a ceiling beam. What can be seen though is how small and lightweight this set up is. I think for many small-shop woodworkers that is something to look at.  Bottom line for me: time to take a closer look at boom arms in general and especially the idea of a removable and "hang against the wall" CT type boom arm. Keeps my CT mobile when needed and avoids all the issues till present with with a moderate-duty boom arm - let's call it "AS-mini".

What I saw first hand working well in Rick Christopherson's shop was housed in a very generous size "home"-shop with very uncommon ceiling height and NO roll-up garage door racks to interfere.

thanks everyone, especially Garry and Rick,  for unearthing all this boom arm wisdom!

 

[rljatl]

Check this out.  Fast forward to ~2:50
Interfit INT309 Wall Mounting Boom Arm

DIY Festool Boom Arm

 

[Klemm]

zxcv - thank you for unearthing this simple approach to what seems like a complex issue. No need to reinvent the wheel.

My take-away so far from all the responses and related links:
hoses and cables on the floor are a problem for pretty much everyone.
Finding a way to bring down these utilities from above to the  powertool you are using is a preferred way to go.
Reducing mobility of a CT by using it as the permanent anchor for the FESTOOL Boom Arm brings unwelcome limitations - not the best solution.
Mounting the FESTOOL boom arm separately from the CT can overcome some of the inherent limitations of the combo CT mounting.
Several home made approaches have shown that a very lightweight approach to the whole boom arm issue can offer benefits which would work for many including an affordable cost (in contrast to an AS-5000 solution).

I have the distinct feeling we are going to hear some more comments all of which can help show the way to yet another enhancement to the utility we have come to expect with our FESTOOL equipped shops.

I'm standing by for the next response . . .